The following is a copy of Emily’s post so I can remember the day. I didn’t keep a surf journal on this trip. It was a beautiful, warm day today, the first day of full sun, but the waves were lacking. Even as we did our morning survey of the conditions, we could see there were only a few people at Queens and some crowds at Canoes but mostly beginner floaty classes. Since it was our last day on the island, we paddled out anyway just to be in the warm water and get a nice workout. But there really weren’t any waves to be had. We paddled to the farthest outside break and commented on how there wasn’t really an outside today. The set would come in eventually but without any force in the swell, they would just flatten …

The following is a copy of Emily’s post so I can remember the day. I didn’t keep a surf journal on this trip. What a difference a day makes. The SSW swell eased and it was pretty flat today along the South shore. We eyed the breaks while having coffee on the beach and decided to eat and head out despite small waves and a fairly strong wind. Queens wasn’t breaking as much, but in the distance we could see people catching some rides at various spots near Canoes. We could tell it was windy and choppy. The water seemed considerably cooler today and I was glad Max had gotten a 1.5m long sleeve like I had. We paddled to the spot that was working yesterday but could tell right away that there wasn’t enough force in the waves and …

This was Emily’s birthday and it was great to celebrate it with a surf in Hawaii. She got nine sweet long rides as a present. We both had a great time!

#96 / #2 for 2011 3:00 pm

[1-2 feet with a SSW swell @ 12 seconds. Cool and crisp conditions prevail for southern shorelines today with some small but rippable surf rolling in. Partly sunny in the morning then clearing. A 40 percent chance of showers. Highs 71 to 77. Northeast winds around 10 mph.]

The following is a copy of Emily’s post so I can remember the day. I didn’t keep a surf journal on this trip. It’s great to be back in Oahu after eight months, especially since I’ve been out of the water in NorCal for a couple of months. Busy with work and it’s been consistently raining and cold, with so much rain that LM was closed because of sewage overflow. While winter on the island isn’t as warm as summer, just surfing without a wetsuit and booties is such a pleasure. We arrived this afternoon and headed out to Canoes for a welcome sunset session. Waves were really small and I paddled like mad over and over but they keep flattening out. Nevertheless, the water felt so good, the ocean was beautiful and just being out again was more than …

Did a double sesh today on this final day of surfing in Hawaii. Of all of the sessions we’ve had since we’ve been here today had the least favorable conditions. The waves were rather small and mushy, and I didn’t score any rides on the shortboard. Still I feel fortunate to have had so many awesome sessions since I’ve been here. Also, It’s been great to get a start learning how to use the shortboard in such perfect conditions.

I really love the shortboard I’ve been surfing, so I purchased a new one this morning. It’s a 6″6′ Firewire Dominator. I can’t wait to try this board back home in Nor Cal. Special thanks to my super awesome wife Emily for supporting what must have seemed like a crazy notion that I could surf a shortboard! Also, thanks to @cryptomail and …

Had another excellent double surf sesh with Emily at Canoes today. Also, I went out on the shortboard for both sessions which was awesome. After several days paddling the SB is no problem. I’m still not quite as fast as Emily on her 9.0, but I’m keeping up a bit more every day. Duck diving is pretty good. I can get my nose down easily, however, I’m still getting use to getting my knee or foot on the back of the board to pop back up. I’m not having any issues with wave selection or my take off spot – I seem to be catching the wave just fine. So, the big question is why can’t I catch a long ride?

On the first sesh today I lined up next to some other surfers on shortboards to watch and learn. I …

Had two great surf sessions today on the shortboard. BTW, whether it’s sunny, warm, cloudy or raining the weather is awesome in Hawaii.

As far as getting to my feet – I was only there for a second, but I did it three times! I haven’t figured out whether it’s my balance, or my position on the board, but today I did find where to catch the wave on the SB.

I noticed a Japanese dude on a SB and decided to hang back and watch him for a while. He was hanging in the middle instead of the outside and kept catching wave after wave. I paddled into a position about 8 meters to his left and decided to go for every wave he did. While I didn’t get a real ride I did catch five waves in no time. I …

I headed out on my shortboard today and after watching the conditions for a bit I decided to go back and grab the longboard. The waves just didn’t seem big enough for the shortboard. Of course as soon as I got back with the 9.0 there were some nice sets going off on the outside. Also, yesterday I kept seeing a Japanese guy on a shortboard next to me who was also not catching any rides. Today I saw him get two. Lesson learned. I’m staying on the short board until I head back to Nor Cal.

Anyway I did have an awesome day on the 9.0. I caught 4 nice rides even though the sets were coming through rather slowly.

Before I went out today I read a bunch surf reports from Nor Cal and everyone was saying how cold it …

Had another great day surfing in Oahu today. Once again it was overcast and raining off and on so Canoes and Queens were not very crowded at all. The waves were supposed to to be a little bigger today than yesterday, but in reality they seemed a bit smaller and mushier. It rained most of the time we were in the water which turned out to be a lot of fun with a water temperature of 76 degrees. We were just inside the outside break and the sets were very consistent. We both caught several nice rides which made the day perfect.

#52 / #10 – 2010 / 2:20 pm

3-4 ft at @ 13 seconds. Wind 10 mph. Sea temp 76 degrees, air temp 75 degrees. Light and variable east winds with smooth seas. Small long period swell from the south.

Today Emily and I had our first warm water surf since December, and it was awesome. We got to Oahu rather late yesterday and decided to wait until today for our first session. It was worth the wait. Yesterday was very windy and flat. Today it was three to four feet @ 15 seconds with little or no wind. It was overcast and raining off and on all day which was great as there were no crowds at all. Not even at Queens or Canoes. There was maybe only a dozen other surfers in the water at Canoes. Also, there were no outriggers or catamarans going out today so it was surfers only. Caught some nice rides which made the day perfect. We’re going to do double sessions for the next six days! Can’t wait to get up tomorrow.

#51 / …